On Paper, They’re Thriving

By Amaya Ashanti Brown

By the time students reach graduate school, they’ve learned how to present themselves as prepared on paper, in conversation, and in the classroom.

What’s less visible is how many of them are still navigating uncertainty in real time, performing stability while privately trying to figure out what comes next.

According to an anonymous survey of Georgetown graduate students conducted as part of this reporting, over 55% of respondents identified career uncertainty as their biggest stressor. Meanwhile, 67% reported experiencing rejection within the past month—from internships, jobs, or other opportunities. Nearly half said they often or sometimes feel unseen in what they’re going through.

The expectation to appear confident doesn’t disappear with those realities. It intensifies alongside them.

“I’m afraid, almost all the time,” said Trina, a first-year student in Georgetown’s Security Studies Program. “I’m afraid of not seeing my purpose by the end of this.”

Even routine moments carry that weight.

“I have to swallow my anxiety… especially when I have to introduce myself.”

For many students, the pressure isn’t just about securing a job, it’s about maintaining a sense of direction while surrounded by peers who appear certain. In environments built on achievement, uncertainty becomes something to manage quietly.

“Not every young person is experiencing these issues in the same way,” one respondent wrote. “For those with little to no support system…this moment is experienced more intensely.”

For some, that intensity is shaped by financial strain.

Aya, a graduate student in Georgetown’s Communication, Culture and Technology program, is balancing school while working three jobs.

“It’s definitely been challenging juggling everything,” she said. “Assignments, work, family… it all adds up.”

“I would say [money] is one of my biggest concerns.”

That concern reflects a broader reality. When asked how often they feel financially secure, most respondents selected “sometimes,” rather than consistently, suggesting that even stability is often temporary. Nationally, the pressure is even clearer: according to the Education Data Initiative, the average graduate student loan debt exceeds $70,000.

At the same time, rejection has become routine. With 67% of respondents reporting recent rejection, many students are navigating repeated setbacks while still expected to present themselves as composed and forward-moving. Over time, that disconnect can shape how students see themselves, not just their opportunities.

“I’m wrestling with a system that is trying to suffocate me,” one respondent wrote.

Another described the pressure in more personal terms:

“I have a hard time accepting help… so I end up choosing the harder option, even if it takes more time, more money, and more energy.”

For international students, uncertainty extends even further.

“The international student experience… not knowing which country I’ll legally be able to end up in,” one respondent shared, pointing to instability that exists beyond academics and career paths.

Even students who appear more stable are managing demanding structures behind the scenes.

“I have to plan out every hour of my day,” said Samantha Steinman, a graduate student balancing full-time work and school. “It’s definitely outside of the nine to five.”

Across these experiences, one expectation remains consistent: stay composed, stay productive, and continue moving forward. But that expectation often requires students to suppress the realities they are actively navigating.

“How genuinely hard it is to succeed right now,” another respondent wrote.

What emerges is not a lack of ambition or effort, but a gap between perception and reality. On the surface, students present confidence, direction, and achievement. Beneath that surface, many are managing uncertainty, financial pressure, and repeated rejection all at once. Because what looks like confidence in a classroom is often someone managing anxiety. What looks like ambition is often shaped by financial necessity. What looks like stability is often uncertainty that hasn’t been spoken out loud.

On paper, they’re thriving.

But behind that paper are students negotiating pressure, identity, and instability in real time—figuring it out without the certainty their résumés suggest.